Not a huge fan of Greek God Yanni and his flowing hair, but this music composed by Bach and played by Yanni's orchestra, just kills me with its haunting beauty!
The oboe solo at 1:35 brings tears to my eyes.....
Be sure to check out Vasudha's moodboard video on her blog. I had heard this music many times before but never knew what it was. And then I heard this music again on her blog....and she finally solved the mystery for me.
I'm here! In case you're wondering if I just fell off the planet or something:-)
Its been a crazy busy week...I dived headlong into a couple of DIY's without fully thinking them through and am now sort of stuck, I got the living and dining rooms repainted a lovely mustardy yellow (sounds awful, but its not), I am reorg'ing my kitchen, we are restarting our kitchen organic garden now that the rains are here!!!
So, all in all a busy time. Here is a quick peek at one wall of the newly repainted living room...
And all through that busy time, this song, has been haunting me! Its a Bengali song, for a commercial for the newly built Tata Medical Center in Kolkata. I heard it about 2 weeks ago and it took me a few days to find out what it was, and I have to share it with you all. Its beautiful!
Here are 2 versions, both heart wrenchingly beautiful. The first for the children in it, who are being treated at the Medical Center. The second one for the music.
Here is the TV ad which had me at the very first line even though I didn't understand a single word of it "Tumi Shunona Amar Kotha"
And here is the original song in its entirety in the TV series it featured in
I'll be posting pics of all that I have been doing soon.....!
.....then watch this! It will blow your mind and really make you think twice before saying "I cannot"...! And to top it off, the song he plays (Richard Clayderman's Marriage D'amour) was my favorite even before I saw this video. Just made it twice as special for me.
WARNING: get your Kleenex!
Taking a tiny break from blogging cos I started a new pastel drawing today...so am busy with that! I find I am really the happiest, the most content and at complete peace with the world when I am painting and listening to music with my headphones on! Today its the Canadian Tenors and Andrea Bocelli...I know I know elevator music, but it doesn't distract me too much from what I am doing, yet really keeps me focussed! Plus I have my snack jar with Milk Bikis for when my brain runs out of oxygen!!!
Hope you are all having a fabulous day! Hope to have the finished drawing tomorrow to share with you all! Which begs me to ask you all the question.....what is it that when you are doing makes you feel really happy??? Playing with the kids, the dogs, cooking, gardening, reading, music, painting, dancing....what?
I'm linking up with Patty's blog for my weekend Wrap Up.
Its not often that I have the "perfect" weekend...."perfect" - as in doing all the things I love to do with NO interruptions, no unwanted visitors, no pesky doorbellers, no power and internet problems....! Well..luckily this ended up being just one of those perfect weekends. There were no deadlines, no large and looming commitments, the weather was fabulous, cool and crisp and sunny, it was lovely!
So what did I do over the weekend....like I said nothing too exciting or earth shattering, just a nice mellow 2 days.
Here is my weekends in pictures.....
I sat on the swing, sipped green tea and read
I worked on my recipe entry for TDAC. The first one was a disaster so I started on a second one....
Sneak peek...cannot reveal too much
I listened to some of my favorite music while painting
Then I went shopping and spent my Diwali money on new cushion covers from Eucalyptus....
in varying shades of orange and lemon yellow
...and a lovely garden lantern from Inhabit
Also did a small DIY project. I had this pickle jar set which was laying around collecting dust, so I cleaned it and used the jars for my paintbrushes, and then I was left with the lids.....
....which I stuck to the top of my dresser mirror. They could stay that way or I guess I could hang some pretty necklaces and bracelets off of them...haven't decided.
Then we finally watched the final season 6 of LOST.....yes, I know a year after the rest of the world has seen it....and I was so disappointed at it! It was a totally unsatisfying vague pathetic ending!!!!
So that's pretty much my weekend in a nutshell! I hope yours was as enjoyable and fun! Thanks Patty!
I am always in awe of anyone who can sing,by that I mean sing well! I come from a family of singers, my maternal grandmother was a well known singer in her hey days singing for All India Radio and even today at 87, can pop out a "right on key" tune in her soft sweet voice! My mother then got her fair share of lessons and I remember her singing at various functions when we were little. Then bringing up 2 kids and looking after a household got in the way and she had no time to stay in touch. And then there was me....I wouldn't go as far as to say there is not a single musical bone on my body, I can sing OK, but nothing like my mom or grandmom. I never got any musical training, academics sort of took over. My son inherited a bit of this musical gene and used to sing in an a Capella group in college. But in recent years, the family member making waves-literally-with her fabulous voice is my husband's cousin Meera, who lives in San Jose and sings for a musical group called "Thillana". Meera is not just an accomplished singer, she is a marathoner (you can read about her marathon experience here)...another thing I envy (I can walk a 1000 miles and do endless sun salutations, but running...not my thing), and is also very creative and design oriented. You can also join her Facebook music page here. This is what she says about herself "I am a Tamilian originally from Palakkad, Kerala, living in the Bay area, CA for the last 10 years.I have been singing for as long as I can remember. Am trained in South Indian classical music, and totally adore instruments but then can’t play one thing!! I am part of a Bay Area light music band called Thillana for the last 10 years. I have dabbled in music here and there singing for a movie, Blogswara, a couple of stage plays locally and of course my audio blog. Music has been a passion and a staple in my life for a long long time now, and still is....." But enough gabbing...let me share with you a few of her renderings, both in Hindi as well as Tamil!
I love all music and all dance but one of the dances I absolutley love is the Spanish flamenco. The passionate dance accompanied by lusty primal singing is enthralling. There was a time not so long ago when I was determined to join a flamenco class in Seattle, but the thought of making a complete fool of myself stopped me....! Now I wish I had persevered!
A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to see a flamenco dance in Barcelona, and I was struck at the similarity in the footwork between flamenco, and Kathak, a centuries old classical dance from North India. Curious at this, I did some reading and was amazed to find the similarity was no coincidence. Read on.....
Around the ninth century, for some unknown reasons, thousands of inhabitants of the north-western part of India began to emigrate west, taking along with them their culture of music and dance including the age old temple dance Kathak. They set out from the territories presently occupied by the Punjab and Pakistan. In Persia they split, and one part went via Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and through the Gibraltar Strait, finally arriving, already known as Gypsies, in the south of Moorish Spain. In this region, known as Al-Andalus, various cultures co-existed for hundreds of years. It was the only place where Gypsies, Jews, Catholic's and Muslims lived together for a long time. Each group had its own customs, music and instruments. After many years, in the beginning of the 19th Century, due to mutual influences and the mingling of all these elements, a mysterious and expressive type of music emerged. Today we know it as Flamenco.
There are many striking similarities between Kathak - a dance popular in North India - and the Flamenco dance of the Spanish gitanos, most notably in the percussive footwork, and dependence on (sometimes complex) rhythmic cycles. The elements that resemble the dance of Andalusian Gypsies are the movements of arms, palms and fingers as well as tapping, typical for this kind of dance. In both styles the dance is usually performed by one person and it is closely connected to the music and rhythm. In flamenco a dancer is accompanied by a guitar, singing, clapping and a cajón, whereas in kathak apart from singing it can be tabla, pakhawaj, sitar or sarangi. In this case kathak is barefoot, and the tapping rhythm is dictated by bells hung at the dancer's ankles and by a loud "clapping" with his foot against the floor. Flamenco, however, is much more dynamic, sometimes even aggressive, or with an erotic character. In flamenco a dancer does not tell any story and his gestures do not bear any meaning: his movements and gestures express emotions or they emphasise the meaning of lyrics and character of the melody accompanying them.
We cannot say for sure that flamenco has its roots in India. However we know, that the Gypsies left India ages ago. One could wonder: had they arrived from China, would flamenco develop in the form we know today? Even if both those extremely interesting genres of music are not directly related, one can state that what is common to Indian and flamenco music is their emotionality, expression, rhythm, depth and sensitivity.
You can see for yourself the similarity between both these dance styles in this video.
And here is a video showing a wonderful fusion of the sounds of the flamenco guitar, and the sitar:
I am a huge fan of Sufi music as I am sure many of you are. Sufi music is derived from Sufism which is the mystical dimension of Islam that preaches peace, tolerance and pluralism, while encouraging music as a way of deepening one’s relationship with God. A practitioner of this tradition is known as a Sufi. Another name used for the Sufi seeker is "dervish". The Sufi movement has spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, at first expressed through Arabic, then through Persian, Turkish and a dozen other languages.
Sufi songs have a unique appeal about them. They are mystical, passionate and soothe the soul. Whether it is a romantic song or sad sufi song, you cannot help but notice them and get totally lost in them. As far as origin is concerned the word ‘Sufi’ is derived from the Arabic word ’suf’ which means wool. Initially, Sufi songs were sung to celebrate love for God. This was a path of devotion and it did not have serious religious connotations. Sufi songs were said to be sung in order to commune with God. In many ways the mournful tunes and lyrics reminded me of the "fado" music we heard in Lisbon. It is the music of longing and yearning. The whirling movement of the singers is also very similar to the dervishes we saw in Istanbul.
Here are a couple of my favorite sufi songs. Click on the link to just listen to it, if you want to see the videos click on the youtube links.
